07-20-2020, 05:13 PM | #1 |
Stone Warrior
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: United States
Posts: 947
|
Where Did Utroms/Krang Come From?
A quick Google search led me down a rabbit hole and got me thinkin' (OH GOD, NOT AGAIN) about the inspiration for the Utroms in Mirage and later, Krang in the '87 cartoon show.
Science fiction is littered with disembodied evil or malicious brains and alien brains but was there a single inspiration for Eastman and Laird to create the Utroms? Is that specifically where David Wise got the idea for Krang from? Do any of you know the direct inspiration for Utroms/Krang? According to Google, Brain From The Planet Arous, a 1957, sci-fi B-movie is the world's most famous evil brain movie. Any thoughts/ideas? |
07-20-2020, 05:22 PM | #2 |
Mad Scientist
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Southern Europe
Posts: 1,984
|
Could their exoskeleton be inspired by the T-800 from The Terminator? They first appeared in 1985, a year after the movie was released.
|
07-20-2020, 06:05 PM | #3 |
Emperor
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Stockholm
Posts: 9,452
|
The only official word on the Exo-Skeleton I can find is from Eastman, and all he says is that Laird designed it. Interestingly enough, the Utroms didn't have a proper name at their introduction nor was one thought of, they were just called TCRI aliens by Eastman and Laird internally. As far as I can tell, the introduction of Leatherhead contains the first mention of the name Utroms, so I guess it's possible that the name comes from Ryan Brown? I'm going to root around a bit to see if there's something more, because the annotations in the UC kept comparing that whole TCRI/Triceraton arc to MacGuyver and Star Wars, which I don't think have something like the Utroms. Maybe there's an episode of MacGuyver where he fights aliens, I never watched it.
Speculative inspirations... That could be quite a long list:
Etc. Disembodied brains, alien robots, tentacle monsters and the mixing and matching of these ideas are surprisingly common. I know David Wise claimed his idea for Krang came from a sci-fi horror movie when Michelle Ivey interviewed him, of course he only brings up the Utroms when she points out they were a thing in the comics, which makes me think he was lying about how Krang ended up in the show (like so much else). If I'm allowed to speculate, I'd say Krang was probably created within Playmates because they thought a toy representing a singular character would sell better. And since they didn't have a name "Krang" might have been a name considered for the Utroms at some point. It's also possible that the name is in reference to the Marvel character Krang. |
07-20-2020, 06:35 PM | #4 | |
Emperor
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Stockholm
Posts: 9,452
|
I'm looking through Peter Laird's AMAs. Here's what he has to say in relation to Krang and the Utroms:
Quote:
|
|
07-20-2020, 08:15 PM | #5 |
Banned
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 1,831
|
|
07-21-2020, 12:09 PM | #6 |
Banned
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 6,129
|
Those sketches...OMG.
Final design is kind of goofy, but this bug-eyed robot and 60s bot are just hilarious. |
07-21-2020, 12:51 PM | #7 | |
Overlord
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Sweden
Posts: 10,155
|
Quote:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Terminator Comic debut: March 1985 https://www.miragelicensing.com/comi...e01/03/03.html https://www.miragelicensing.com/comi...01/mirage.html |
|
07-21-2020, 02:44 PM | #8 |
A Crusty Bob Fan
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: At the current moment, on your screen.
Posts: 1,978
|
One of the characters from Invaders From Mars might have been used as a reference.
|
07-21-2020, 02:46 PM | #9 |
Emperor
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Stockholm
Posts: 9,452
|
Yeah the heads are kinda odd but in general they raise fewer questions than the final design.
|
|
|